The National Portrait Gallery has partnered with Frameless Creative, a London-based immersive experience studio, to launch 'Stories—Brought to Life,' a virtual reality exhibition that brings portraits of historical and contemporary figures to life through dynamic 150-second animated sequences. The experience, projected onto a mosaic of screens, features figures including Queen Elizabeth I, Audrey Hepburn, Nelson Mandela, David Bowie, and Ncuti Gatwa, drawing on the museum's collection. It debuted at a temporary site in MediaCity, Manchester, and is designed to travel to other locations.
This venture matters because it represents a strategic response to the growing public appetite for immersive digital art experiences, as highlighted by a 2024 analysis in The Art Newspaper. By partnering with a commercial immersive studio and taking its collection on the road, the National Portrait Gallery is testing how traditional museums can harness digital spectacle to reach new audiences, reduce visitor anxiety, and extend their national reach beyond London. The project also reflects broader institutional efforts to integrate virtual reality and large-scale digital storytelling into museum practice.